A pair of new exhibitions featuring two major donations, "Avowal through Withdrawal: Selected Paintings and Calligraphies from the Chih Lo Lou Collection" and "Wu Guanzhong: Sketching from Nature", opened to the public today (October 30) at the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA). The exhibitions respectively show the integrity of traditional literati through Chinese painting and calligraphy and allow visitors to gain an understanding of Chinese painting master Wu Guanzhong's pursuit of beauty from his sketches.
Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms period urged his son to assert his conviction through nothing else but withdrawal from officialdom. To preserve his true nature, Tao Qian of the Wei-Jin period resigned from office and re-embraced pastoral life. Regardless of the age and time, the intelligentsia in China never stopped rising to any challenge in their own unique ways. Painters and calligraphers were no different. They looked inward to their hearts and projected their thoughts and feelings directly or indirectly through brush and ink to express numerous subjects in diverse styles.
To showcase the manifestation of literati integrity in painting and calligraphy, the exhibition "Avowal through Withdrawal: Selected Paintings and Calligraphies from the Chih Lo Lou Collection" features about 60 masterpieces from the Chih Lo Lou Collection and other museum holdings for display with reference to their subjects and techniques and the artists’ style names and courtesy names. The exhibition will also feature an art education video, "A Pleasure in Art: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Appreciation", which presents an animation series for the appreciation of the art of Chinese painting and calligraphy in a simple and lively way.
The Chih Lo Lou Collection is one of the three major private collections of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy in Hong Kong. The collection's founder, Mr Ho Iu-kwong (1907-2006), named his collection Chih Lo Lou. In 2018, the Ho family generously donated over 350 works from the Chih Lo Lou Collection to the HKMoA. The Chih Lo Lou Gallery of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy was set up to display the collection.
Sketching in nature was one of the main sources of inspiration for Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010) in his art creation throughout the more than 60 years of his artistic career. From small fishing boats and reeds in his hometown to magnificent mountains and forests, he discovered and captured the beauty of forms and lines in natural landscapes and his daily life through sketches. These sketches have not only recorded his instincts and emotions but also provided insights for his later works.
The exhibition "Wu Guanzhong: Sketching from Nature" showcases around 30 sketches and paintings donated by Wu Guanzhong and his family, including a sketch of Hong Kong, to demonstrate the aesthetic theories that Wu realised and the process of discovering beauty from sketching in his everyday life.
A special learning kit is available online in association with the exhibition. Citing selected paintings by Wu Guanzhong from the museum collection, it talks about the techniques and concepts Wu applied during his art creation. Extended activities have also been designed for visitors to complete after viewing the exhibition or at home. The learning kit can be downloaded via the HKMoA website: hk.art.museum/en_US/web/ma/exhibitions-and-events/wu-guanzhong-sketching-from-nature.html.
The two exhibitions, which will run until February 7 next year, are being held at the Chih Lo Lou Gallery of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy and the Wu Guanzhong Art Gallery respectively in the HKMoA. The museum is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
In view of the latest situation of COVID-19, the museum will apply a quota to limit visitor flow. Visitors to the museum will need to use hand sanitiser and will be subject to temperature checks before admission. They also need to wear their own masks. Children under 12 will only be allowed to enter the museum and exhibition facilities when accompanied by an adult. For details of the exhibition and the admission arrangements, please visit the website at hk.art.museum, or call 2721 0116 for enquiries.
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